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Hi Tracy,
I tried running a jumpers course with Emmie this weekend but she was absolutely positive that the wrong entry was correct. I ended up putting a wing up to help her. We just worked that instead. I’m giving her a couple of days break before trying again. However, my camera got too hot and I didn’t get video. So, here’s my older dog Kip running the first and second jumpers course. He really has only one solid verbal (switch) which basically means turn away from me. He’s got a “back” and “in-in” which are not solid. We are taking a class for fun to try to solidify the threadle cue. Of course he expects nothing less than perfection on my part 🙂 I don’t normally “pull” as much as I did on these courses but we had a really hard time with that second tunnel exit.
I only worked the side in the video. Never tried the other side. Probably would have been a good idea just to see if it was that side only. I’ll skip these for now and move onto jumpers instead.
Hi Tracy,
We tried the first sequences for success course with the weaves. I was not expecting to have any problems with these but for some reason she could not hit her entries. I said before her entries are pretty solid so this was quite weird. She did the same failure throughout the session so I wasn’t sure what was going on. When I watch the video it doesn’t seem like it’s me. And I even attempted to help/handle like I normally would and still had the issue. The only thing I can think of is the bases of these six poles are different than my 2x2s. The poles are pretty new and I just bought them the beginning of summer. My older dog also struggled with the entries initially using these. It doesn’t seem that different to me but I also don’t know what the dogs use as the visual for entries. I switched the base around and had her try it again (rep not on the video) and she still had the exact same failure. I left the entry failures in there and me fixing them so you could see the whole thing. At 0:30 you can see her almost failing the entry and then last minute fixing it. I kept the last rep (although this was not the last rep in our training session) so you could see her regular striding through the poles (compared to yesterday’s). Of course she nailed that last rep and I couldn’t remember what I was doing lol. It’s thunderstorming the rest of today but I was thinking of setting up one of the full jumpers courses tomorrow to change it up for her.
Here’s our teeter session. We did every other rep with me running alongside her and then switching to adding some distance. I had a small target with a little treat out and then released to the MM.
Hi,
I did have the toy and MM out at the same time for the first rep. If we have additional challenges like these I’ll try fading the toy out/in. I think I unintentionally pushed the distance without setting the line. I need a line for myself to follow :-). I was going to do the small sequences with weaves today and finish up the second skills session on the teeter using your feedback. I’m going to keep the weaves closed and I’ll have a toy so I think it will be a good comparison.
Here’s our 2nd skills session with the weaves. I switched them to 6 poles of 2x2s and opened them a bit. Because she’s got her rhythm down, I think it takes her a bit to adjust to the open poles. And plus the added distance from me is really making her think. I added the MM at the end too to have something to focus on. I tried one rep with me holding the toy so I could throw it (not included in the video). She definitely likes the toy going through the poles (she gets going much faster) but it’s a big distraction for her and she popped the poles. So I just stuck with the MM because I wanted her to focus on the exercise and we can focus on the speed later once she understands to stay in the poles the entire way with the added distance. She definitely had to think through this but after ditching the toy the first rep and sticking with the MM, she nailed all the reps. I also noticed I may have made this a little harder by not setting the line great for her.
I trained them mostly by 2x2s but I did intermix channels too. Also on my homework list for weaves was opening the channels to help her swim and speed her up. I did one session of that earlier this spring and it really helped her. I can probably try a little of both (6 weaves + channels) in her next sessions.
I was actually wondering how I could break this down to make it easier for her. Plus I don’t like to do a lot of reps on weaves anyway. So I’ll try some later this week with six poles to see how she does. I think that will make her much more successful.
I’ve only been doing about 1-2 teeters about twice a week since class got over intermixed in little sequences so I’m pretty happy how it’s moving along. I think switching up the distance and then running beside her will work great!
Here is the first skills video. For the teeter, I used a target (with no treats on it for the first time in a while) and had the MM beyond that to keep her focus forward. She’s been getting quite confident on the teeter when I sprint alongside her/past her when we have practiced. So this was definitely hard for her at the tip point.
As for the weaves, this has been on our homework list for the summer already so I figured it would be tough. She typically has great entries (although solidifying those are also homework) but her weakness is definitely popping the last few poles.
I do have a question about the video submissions. Specifically for the skills parts. As an example, can we submit 4 reps of a teeter and 4 reps of weaves in one video if it’s under three minutes? Or are you only wanting one obstacle with 4 reps?
I’m not completely sure when posting for this class will close, but I really enjoyed it. I love how you broke down everything (for both the handler and the dog) with all the different options for different learning styles. I made it into your seminar off the waitlist at On The Run so I’ll see you in person mid-June. Thanks for all the help!
So yesterday I did not have a target at the end of the teeter. So on the full teeter during this session, I added it for that rep already loaded with PB. You’re right I think it definitely helped her focus. I did two more elevator reps with a tunnel after that. First looked like she was bit more tentative but second she was pretty confident.
When does this class end again?
Second session for the day. We warmed up with two reps of a tunnel and the crazy elevator game. For the third, we did the full teeter. The video is not great (my tripod broke) but I had a big spoon of peanut butter and gave her that right away. Then we went and played with her ball. You could definitely see her thinking like “oh crap that was different and weird” right when she came off the teeter but then didn’t worry about it after the PB and ball.
Sorry about the background noise on this. My husband was on a work call and walking the yard lol. I was going to try to do a full teeter during this session but she got just a tad spooked with the board on one of the reps. She rebounded from it really well so probably could have tried it but I thought I could do another small session later today instead. So nothing different from the last session just some more experience with the tunnel. If I can fit it in, I’ll try another short session later this evening.
